President
Jan Brucker called the January meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Introductions were made around the table.

NEW
BUSINESS.

Department
of Neighborhoods Updates.
Krista Dumpys, our City representative from the Department of
Neighborhoods, told us about meeting the Mark Secord, CEO of
NeighborCare. A new healthcare facility is now being built behind
McDonalds. The Meridian Center for Health1
will be located at North 105th
Street and Meridian Avenue North. They are eager to connect with
LSCC.

She
also informed us that Mayor Murray’s small scale neighborhood walk
in the Northgate area will take place on Tuesday, January 27th,
beginning at 3:00 p.m. A representative from Licton Springs is
needed to be part of the group accompanying the Mayor. Liz Kearns
volunteered to be our representative.

Selection
of Artist for Artwork for City Light’s North Service Center.
Marcia Iwaskai, City of Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, who
represents our part of the City. She explained that the City has an
art program. She also passed out informational brochures about
Seattle’s public art. One percent of a capital improvement project
budget goes towards the acquisition of public art. A panel2
was set up to choose the artist for City Light’s North Service
Center new artworks. The panel, during the months of November and
December, had two meetings. At their first meeting they looked at an
artist roster of 39 artists from Washington and Oregon, and then the
roster was narrowed down to eight artists, then down to the top four,
who were asked to come in for an interview. Scott Trimble has been
commissioned. It is unusual that an artist comes in after the
architect, but in this case City Light was already moving quickly on
this project. She told us she and Scott looked at City Light
yesterday and met with staff, finding out what they do. Scott will
also be going on ride-alongs with different teams to see what they
do. Information is also being gathered about our neighborhood. He
will do two artworks. Work will begin in the next couple months.
This is happening very fast because City Light is moving fast. In a
project of this kind, the involvement of the community is always
sought. When Scott Trimble comes up with his artwork, it will have
to be approved by the Public Arts Advisory and City Light, and will
be installed by fall.

W.
Scott Trimble, Artist.
Scott Trimble showed us pictures of samples of his works and
described them. He has done permanent and temporary public works at
various locations: University of Washington (temporary, installed in
October, but UW asked for it to remain longer; so it’s there until
spring; southwest corner of campus), Bellevue Art Museum (fantastic
works on wood by 39 Northwest artists; it’s beautiful work), a New
York junior high and high/elementary and pre-K school called New
Settlement located in the Bronx (a colored navigational system),
treatment plant facility in Kirkland (a new service gate, telling the
story of the work of the plant).

The
artwork for the North Service Center will link City Light’s two
locations (corner to corner). The art will also help people navigate
City Light.

Marcia
reported that City Light planned to be finished with the construction
in May/June and the artwork would be dedicated in early fall of this
year. She said we would be notified of the date for the dedication.
She told us that the City would maintain the artwork. So, they
should be notified if the artwork is damaged.

Scott
said that he was interested in material/information about Licton
Springs neighborhood. He was given the information/pamphlets we had
available. Tom Meyer and others described the water connections,
including the spring and pond in Licton Springs Park. The Emily Inez
Denny book, Blazing the
Way, was also
recommended. Jan pointed out that Licton Springs and Duwamish are
the only two neighborhood names in Seattle retaining their Indian
names. Scott gave his e-mail address, wstrimble@yahoo.com,
and urged us to let him know if we had comments or suggestions.
Several Board members told of other water connections. Marcia said
that suggestions should be e-mailed to Scott in the next week or so
because the project is moving forward quickly. Also, Seattle is one
of the top arts places per capita in the country.

OLD
BUSINESS.

Northgate
Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge Over I-5.
Charles Bond and Richard Truax spoke about the pedestrian bridge.
The total estimated cost of the pedestrian and bicycle bridge to
connect the west side of I-5 to the Transit Center and Northgate is
$25 million and for folks from the park and ride and future light
rail station on the east side to get to Licton Springs. The City of
Seattle and Sound Transit reached an agreement to pledge $10 million
towards the construction. So, funding for the bridge has a $15
million funding gap at present. The groups supporting the bridge are
Feet First and the Sound Access for All campaign, among others.
There are a number of sources available to close the gap, including
state and federal grants, the state transportation budget, and a
future Seattle Bridging the Gap Levy.

The
bridge is needed to create a safe path for crossing I-5. North 92nd
is not totally safe. It was built to 1960’s standards.3
The guardrails are too low. You remember that we had a tragic
suicide by someone jumping onto the freeway from the 92nd
overpass. Northgate Way is also a dangerous street to navigate as a
pedestrian.

The
present problem is that the funding is reaching a time limit. If the
funding gap is not closed and the project fully funded, then the
pledged amounts will evaporate. So, what supporters are trying to do
now is to get Sound Transit4
to extend the deadline so there is time to get all the needed
funding. TIGER grants are really competitive and so obtaining them
is dicey. Projects all over the country are trying to obtain funds
from the same pot of money. The bridge proponents did not obtain
TIGER grant funds applied for and are uncertain about reapplying.
This year TIGER grant funds are being reduced.

The
Mountlake Light Rail Station is $160 million under budget, so that
money is being sought for other projects. It is unclear if the money
can legally be used for other projects. Sound Transit also got their
interest rate lowered on one of their loans so that means more money
can go to funding. However Sound Transit leaders don’t appear to
want to commit more money for the bridge. No one can speak for them,
but it seems that a lot of interest groups do not want to commit
their money to the bridge. The cost of the pedestrian bridge is less
than other projects that Sound Transit has. Haller Lake, Pinehurst,
Maple Leaf, as well as Licton Springs will benefit from the bridge.

Traffic
in our neighborhood will only increase with the two schools going in
and the new medical center being built. There is more and more to
draw people across the pedestrian bridge.

The
Lake City Neighborhood Alliance has committed to writing a letter in
support of extending the funding deadline. Jan stated that Licton
Springs has already expressed support, but she felt that we would
need to hold a community meeting to hopefully get the feelings and
opinions of the neighborhood. We could request removal of the July
2015 deadline to give more time for obtaining the necessary
additional funds.

President
Warren Brown of North Seattle College, who has been here since July,
said that the College is in favor of the bridge. It gives the
students access to light rail. This College also has issues with the
park and ride. Several of their students have been assaulted there.
The College needs to look at safety issues. The bridge has to be
safe and useful for everyone. Campus security can’t police the
bridge. Safety has to be an issue for the whole community. The
bridge has to be inviting and safe, and lit after dark. With the
on/off ramp for folks going and coming from the bridge, a safe
pathway through the green space needs to be established. President
Brown said that he believed King County funds could be used for the
approach to the bridge area, funds dedicated for wetlands and urban
parks. The College would need a nice pathway through the green
space.

But,
the College feels the State Department of Transportation needs to
pass a bill for funding. This hasn’t happened in nine years. All
colleges apply for funds in a group and have to rank their projects.
Therefore it takes time to obtain funding.

Jan
remembered from early discussions years ago that a performing arts
center was proposed that would draw people from the east side of the
freeway and have more eyes around the bridge entrance. President
Brown stated that nothing showing in the master plan for that. The
other issue for the College is the high ground water table in the
area. So any structure going in there is going to have to mitigate
the ground water issue. Third, the State works on a seven year
building cycle, seven years to plan, seven years to get on a list for
funding, and seven years to build. Also, all 34 colleges are in the
same cycle. The universities go individually and ask for individual
projects, but not the colleges. Funding is difficult to obtain
current. Community colleges get less funding than K12. Last year
eight projects were approved initially for the colleges, and those
projects were ready to be built. Funding only came through for four
of those projects. The bridge is not in the master plan, but
President Brown said it was his understanding that it didn’t need
to be since it wasn’t a campus structure. Amy mentioned that there
had been the discussions that Jan remembered, but they had only been
discussions, not plans.

Cascade
Bike Club is interested in turning North 100th
into a green zone, a neighborhood green zone. North 100th
would lead to the College and the bridge.

Melanie
Davies reported a Safeways meeting had taken place on Tuesday at the
College and folks were looking at safe ways to walk to school. They
were studying all the school plans. It is clear that North 92nd
is going to be a funnel for the new “Wilson Pacific” middle
school kids coming to the school from the east side over. We also
have the parents driving the APP kids, who are not necessarily
neighborhood kids, who will be coming from all over the north end.
We are going to get a ton of traffic coming over 92nd
bridge. It is
impossible to cross the freeway at 80th
or 85th.
We really need another way for people to get from one place to
another. Another option is needed.

Tom
reported from his experience on the North District Council, not all
neighborhoods are in favor of the pedestrian bridge. They have been
seeking funding, perhaps for years, of projects in their
neighborhoods. Also, the City has not kept promises for sidewalks
made 50 years ago. Haller Lake still doesn’t have sidewalks. If
we don’t have collective support, the City will have a hard time
funding the bridge. Sound Transit is a beneficiary of the bridge and
yet they do not want to put more funds into building it. This is a
revenue generating system for them. Tom said the City of Seattle has
done a lot of time vetting, and funding searches. They’ve done a
lot for the bridge.

All
the mitigation the City has done in making Northgate an urban center
has been on the east side of I-5. Nothing has been done on the west
side. Eventually, something should come this way. Outreach has only
gone east thus far.

The
word needs to be gotten out about a potential meeting and about the
February 26th
deadline. Melanie wondered if we could get the mailing list used in
prior big community meetings, i.e., about Wilson Pacific. Also, Jan
stated she felt that we as a Council need to get a larger input of
opinions from the neighborhood before stating a position. For a
larger meeting, we could partner with Epic Church, and the other
groups mentioned. Who is sending out the invites, who is heading up
the meeting?

Melanie
reported that the Greenway connected to us is entitled the
Licton-Haller Greenways. The name was come up with two months ago.
The core group supporting it is folks from Green Lake, Haller Lake,
Lake City, and she is the only person from Licton Springs. That
group is focused on safe ways, greenways. Gordon Padelford is with
Seattle Greenways of the City of Seattle. Christian is in the group,
and he’s at the College. They have energy, and have obtained a
grant from the National Parks Department for help thinking through
signage, wayfinding, etc. They helped a group in Rainier Beach. A
representative from the National Parks was there to listen to ideas.
This could be the umbrella group. Melanie urged us not to invent a
new group, she can e-mail Lee Bruch from Green Lake, and Megan and
say, “We want to have a meeting about this issue. Every group has a
mailing list. Licton-Haller Greenways wants to get a big group out
to discuss safeways, bike travel, etc., but really it is all really
the same issue.” Maybe we could have a subgroup meeting with Lee,
Megan, and Christian and a few others and see if we can get the most
people possible to an event in the cafeteria before the funding
deadline. It could be another brainstorming event, but getting
people rallied around extending this deadline.

Jan
stated in the spirit of full disclosure that she has not been a fan
of the bridge because she thinks that one purpose structures are not
a good use of money. Going back to our community planning, the group
all wanted a connection to the east side of the freeway. There was
no debate about that. But, for a lot of folks that the bridge
concept was too narrow. Years ago, in 1999, the question was should
there be another kind of linkage? What we were talking about then
was daylighting Thornton Creek. Instead of going over, go under the
freeway, broad, open and lots of plantings. It’s been lost over
time, but that was the thought.

Many
voices are needed to urge the elimination of the deadline. Sound
Transit, most likely will “kick the can down the road a bit,” but
it would be much better to have the deadline lifted.

Charles
made the suggestion to create an active organization of people, who
can put their voices together, and can act as one when there’s a
need to bring attention to a matter. He said that we need to get
parts of the city working together again, sending out e-mails,
responding to surveys, showing up for events and meetings. That’s
what’s needed, not just for the bridge, but for Aurora. We need a
source for leadership.

The
meeting is set for Saturday, February 21st,
from 10:00 a.m. to noon at the College.
The word has to be gotten out. We need to partner with other groups
to try to get as big a turnout as possible. The Greenways people
would be a good fit. We need to have a way for people to vote or
express their opinions in some way whether you’re signing a
petition, or something else.

Celebrate
North Seattle. Casey
Pier, from Epic Church and also Celebrate North Seattle event,
explained the Church was very interested in being involved in
community as part of their vision. They definitely want to work with
us on projects, from neighborhood cleanup to business ventures.

The
Celebrate North Seattle event has taken place at Oak Tree and is an
event to attract people to the area to see what would happen if we
all connected, specifically community nonprofits, community groups.
The first year approximately 300 people came. Last year there were
just shy of 2,000 people. When they first started the event, they
had no way of knowing how successful it could be. They have also
definitely been concerned with the Aurora corridor.

Jan
said we were the only neighborhood plan that focused on Aurora and
the safety of crossing or walking along it. We spent funding for
experts that we received in hiring a safety consultant. We were also
very interested in using the alleys to make the businesses easier to
visit. The commercial zone is so shallow on the east side, so there
has not been upgrading of the businesses. We felt that the business
door on Aurora should not be their only entrance, but that there
could be an entrance from the alley. Once the planning process was
over, the City dropped the ball and there was no funding to follow
through with plans or discussions made. So the efforts concerning
helping Aurora businesses stopped.

All
sections of Aurora north in Shoreline and south of our neighborhood
have re-envisioned Aurora and revitalized their Highway 99 corridor.
In our neighborhood, the Aurora Merchants resist any changes.

Multi-Neighborhood
Intersection. It was
reported that Rob from the Greenwood Community Council called a
meeting regarding the intersection of Northgate Way and Aurora, an
area where four neighborhoods meet: Licton Springs, Greenwood,
Haller Lake, and Broadview. Was that intersection designated as an
urban center? Nothing has happened with it. Now they are talking
about putting a pedestrian overlay in that area. That would mean new
businesses would have to orient themselves towards pedestrians. We
need to discuss this more. There is a lot of room for improvement
there, boarded up businesses, etc. Because multiple neighborhoods
are involved, no progress has been made. There can be multiple
voices saying to the City that something should happen here.

3
There have been two suicide jumpers off the 92nd Overpass
Bridge, one about five years ago, and a second at 6:00 a.m. on
January 9, 2015, a foggy morning. Several cars collided, one had
damage, but no drivers were hurt.

4
To contact the Sound Transit Board of Directors:
EmailAllBoardMembers@soundtransit.org.
Ask them to remove the July 2015 deadline and urge them to work
towards identifying the additional money needed to complete the
bridge.